


tolerate it

by the_fifth_marauder101



Series: Tony Ships by Taylor Swift [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Bitter Tony Stark, Bitterness, Civil War Team Iron Man, Emotional Hurt, Failed Marriage, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt Tony Stark, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspired by Taylor Swift, M/M, Not Quite Steve Roger's Friendly, POV Tony Stark, Song: tolerate it (Taylor Swift), Steve Rogers critical, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, salty tony Stark, there's just a lot of feels my guy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:08:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29027739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_fifth_marauder101/pseuds/the_fifth_marauder101
Summary: Tony used to wonder how his mother could stand to live in a loveless marriage. Unfortunately, he now gets it.~~~~“Well my boy, at least you have an example of what not to do.”It’s a shame Tony was never good at following by example.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Tony Ships by Taylor Swift [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129502
Comments: 19
Kudos: 99





	tolerate it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deathsweetqueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathsweetqueen/gifts).
  * Inspired by [tolerate it](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/750063) by taylor swift. 



> instead of writing any of my other tony story AUs I wrote this, enjoy

Growing up, Tony was a first-hand witness at a failed marriage. The halls of his house echoed with arguments more often than not, and the sound of slaps that Tony heard as a toddler became an intimately familiar feeling as he grew up. 

Often, in fits of childish frustration—back when the world was black and white, what simple times—, Tony would cry and scream internally towards his mother. 

“ _ Why? Why did she never leave? Why did they have to endure this? How could she stand this, live like this,  _ **_love_ ** _ like this? Why? Why?” _

One of Howard’s old work buddies—before he pushed the man away with screams pungent with alcohol, just like all their other friends—, someone younger-Tony called Uncle Obie, often joked with him.

_ “Well my boy, at least you have an example of what not to do.”  _

It’s a shame Tony was never good at following by example.

Now, Tony gets it. 

Sitting on the couch—large, somewhere they used to sprawl over, looking more like a tangled mess of limbs than anything remotely human—alone, pretending he’s even remotely interested in the book slack between his fingers. He gazed at  _ him _ . 

_ His husband _ . 

Steve sat on an armchair, farther away from Tony. He supposed the gap was a metaphor, considering that—while past-Steve would have immediately known something was up, probably wrap his arms around Tony and murmur  _ ‘you think too loud’ _ into his hair—Steve hadn’t even noticed Tony’s hundred-yard stare. 

God, just the thought of their current relationship dynamics made Tony’s heart clench. But Tony endured that vice around his fragile heart and pondered. 

Tony thought back to how he would wait in the evenings—table set, dinner out, thoughts of kisses, and promises to be fulfilled—for the door to open, only to be brushed off over and over, until one day he snaps. And then, Steve just  _ stood  _ there, blue eyes hard like ice. 

The emotion Steve wore like a shield that anniversary still makes Tony’s throat seize up. 

When they go out, Tony listened to the way Steve jokes with his friends, how the jokes fell under the  _ ‘I hate my spouse’ _ boomer trope. The same ones Tony used to mock in college, back when he silently vowed to not fall into that stereotype. 

Tony wished it was all in his head. He wished he could have just pulled this out of his ass. But how could he explain the long-suffering sighs Steve would heave at dinner when Tony opened his mouth? How the tension— _ where did it even come from? _ —eased when Tony didn’t utter a word when they were in their hand-painted walls. 

And Tony  _ gets  _ it. He gets why his mother stayed. Why she would see old letters sent with love in the man that wandered the mansion. Why she held out hope that she didn’t lose who she loved, that he was in there somewhere. That  _ he  _ would come back and the splinters in their marriage would be mended. 

Tony often wonders what happened to the person that wouldn’t hesitate to tug Tony close to him. The one who endured his outrageous pet-names and reacted with his own old-fashioned ones. What happened to the Steve who painted the walls, filled them with murals of easter eggs from their dates like they were a Pixar movie? 

Tony started slipping into his press smile everywhere, only realizing it when Rhodey called him out on it with that worried furrow of his brow. 

Tony long stopped trying to weasel his way in the sidelines of Steve’s frequent outings. He confined himself to work and the house that didn’t feel like home anymore. He fell into a cycle, until Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey texted yesterday for a lunch date.

What does it say about their relationship that Tony was  _ scared _ to  **_ask_ ** Steve if he  _ could  _ go? As if he was some housewife or teenager wringing their hands together at the risk of a belt. 

Only that’s how he  _ felt.  _

And as he sat there and pondered, he began to dream, to plot and plan.

Tony was a selfish man at heart. He wasn’t his mother. He couldn’t be satisfied with empty promises of a time that seems long left behind. 

How would Steve react to Tony confronting him? Coming to see a stack of folders instead of dinner? 

Because Tony?

Tony wouldn’t tolerate it any longer. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think in the comments and leave a kudo too! 
> 
> come chat with me on my socials!
> 
> Main Tumblr: @the-fifth-marauder101
> 
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> 
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